Conservative Party announces plans for a green economy following a report from a working party chaired by Oxford Capital
5 January 2009
Oxford Capital’s David Mott calls for a new “Cleantech Incubator Support Scheme” (CISS) to deliver investment into new Cleantech enterprises
Read the report in full, here.
The Conservative Party’s plans for a green economy, announced by David Cameron today, follow a detailed report into supporting Cleantech Enterprise in the UK from a working party formed and chaired by David Mott, Investment Director of venture capitalist Oxford Capital.
The Working Party made three key recommendations:
· Recommendation one: To widen the scope of existing Government support initiatives to support companies that deliver an environmental benefit and not simply businesses that have a direct link to carbon reduction.
· Recommendation two: To launch specialist Cleantech incubators under a new “Cleantech Incubator Support Scheme” (CISS) backed by public and private-sector funding.
· Recommendation three: Increased government support for Cleantech businesses through new government procurement initiatives and access to subsidised product prototype testing.
The Working Party’s report has been published today by the Conservative Party and will be subject to a consultation exercise before the Opposition makes its final decision on the funding and tax treatment of green tech incubators:
David Mott, Investment Director, Oxford Capital says:
“The great wealth creation opportunity of the 21st Century will arise from saving the planet and not from depleting its resources. The UK is exceptionally well positioned to become one of the world’s most productive sources of environmental technologies. However to succeed more needs to be done at the grass roots of enterprise.
“Government has an important role to play and can be effective in stimulating the private sector. Incubators have a key role to play to turn an idea into an investible proposition that the investor community can back. They can increase the chances of getting great ideas closer to market – as at the moment too many Cleantech enterprises fail before their products ever reach a customer. We welcome the Conservative’s commitment to the green economy.
“At Oxford Capital we’ve been investing in cleantech companies for the last 10 years. We know firsthand the challenges of bringing new technologies into new markets which are often dominated by regulation. At this time, it is essential that the UK continues to foster innovation in the knowledge economy to remain globally competitive.”
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For further information please contact:
Oxford Capital
David Mott, Investment Director, Oxford Capital 01865 860760
Mike Lord, Lord Public Relations 07831 401 311
Notes to editors:
Cleantech Incubator submission to the Shadow Cabinet
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne invited David Mott, co-founder of Oxford Capital Partners, to form a Working Group to submit a detailed report for the Shadow Cabinet to investigate how specialised Cleantech incubators could be supported across Britain in [date]. The report, published on 5 January 2009 offers a fully costed roadmap for rolling out a Cleantech incubator programme, while proposing detailed guidelines on the qualifying criteria for cleantech companies to access incubator services.
The Working Group comprised the following experts in the Cleantech sector:
· David Mott, Investment Director and Co-Founder, Oxford Capital Partners
· Andrea Alunni, Seed Investment Manager, Isis Innovation
· Mike Bowman, Director, eSynergy
· Matthew Brown, Investment Director, Life Accelerator
· Paul Coleman, Co founder and Director, H2o Ventures
· Douglas Dundonald, Founder and Director, Anglo Scientific
· Alex Hook, Investment Manager, NESTA Investments
· Peter Horsburgh, Partner, Environmental Technology Fund
· Philip Johnson, Chief Executive, Life Accelerator
· Dave Raval, Incubator Manager, TTP Group
· Barney Rhys-Jones, Managing Director, Good energy
· Julian Wheatland, Chief Executive, Consensus Community
· Mark Wyatt, Manager Biosciences Ventures, Imperial Innovations
· Rob Wylie, Partner, Wheb Ventures
Oxford Capital
Founded in 1999 Oxford Capital is a venture capital firm working on behalf of institutional and private investors. Its focus is on emerging science and technology and its expertise lies in accelerating businesses with potential for high growth in global markets.
Oxford Capital currently oversees a portfolio of around 30 companies in a range of technology sectors, focusing on three super-growth themes: healthcare, communications and sustainability. It invests across all stages of development, from start-up to IPO and it works with portfolio companies to accelerate them into international markets in Europe, the US, Middle East and Asia.
The company innovated by pioneering the tax efficient Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) Fund and manages £36 million in five Oxford Gateway EIS Funds. The Oxford Gateway EIS Fund No.5 was rated first out of five comparable offerings in Martin Churchill’s Tax Efficient Review – Issue 60 (December 2008).
Oxford Capital is located at the heart of Europe’s largest agglomeration of scientific clusters. This region is renowned as a centre of excellence in the many new fields of science and applied technologies and is the base for numerous technology businesses, research institutions, laboratories, universities, scientists and entrepreneurs.
Awards
· Unquote Private Equity Awards 2005.
Winner: Venture Capital House of the Year
· Enterprise Investment Scheme Association Awards 2006.
Winner: Best EIS Fund Manager
· Investor Allstars Awards 2006.
Winner: Young Personality of the Year (David Mott)
· The Private Equity Awards 2006.
Finalist: House of the Year
· UK Technology Innovation & Growth Awards 2006.
Finalist: Early Stage Investor of the Year Award
· Investor Allstars Awards 2005.
Finalist: Venture Capital Fund of the Year, Young Personality of the Year, and International Deal of the Year.
